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Shopping Guide to Fourth of July Sales

The Fourth of July sales already are in full swing. In fact, you'll probably see the best deals before the long holiday weekend. "About two days before the Fourth of July stores will be posting their lowest prices for their sales," says Howard Schaffer, vice president of deal and online coupon site Offers.com. Although the markdowns aren't always as good as Memorial Day sales, Fourth of July sales offer consumers a chance to get in-season items at a discount, according to dealnews.com.

For example, you can find discounts of up to 80% on summer apparel and swimwear, Schaffer says. Also expect to see stores marking down grills and patio furniture. Dealnews.com reports that grills were marked down an average of $75 last year during Fourth of July sales, with discounts on gas grills reaching an average of $160 off. Fourth of July sales also are a good time to score deals on appliances and paint, according to CreditDonkey.

So if you're in the market for any of these items, here are some stores offering significant discounts as part of Fourth of July sales. Be sure to check with your favorite retailers to see if they're having sales.

Apparel. Abercrombie & Fitch has marked down clothing up to 60% in stores and online. Aeropostale has 70% off select styles. Gap is offering 40% off through July 7 in stores. J. Crew is offering 40% off swimwear online through July 3. Lands' End has marked down spring and summer apparel up to 60% and swimwear up to 65%. Macy's has lowered prices by as much as 50% on swimwear and an extra 25% off clearance items online. Sears has discounts of up to 60% on clothing and swimwear online and in stores.

Appliances. Home Depot has slashed prices by up to several hundred dollars on major appliances for its Red, White & Blue Savings sale, which began June 20. Lowe's has marked down select appliances 5% to 35%. Sears has marked down appliances up to 30%. You can order items online and pick them up at the store at no extra charge.

Paint. You can get $5 off 1-gallon paints and $20 off 5-gallon paints at Home Depot. Lowe's if offering $5 off select gallon-size Valspar, Duramax and Olympic paints through July 8.

Patio furniture and grills. Home Depot is taking up to 50% off patio furniture online with free shipping to the store. Kmart is offering an extra 10% off online purchases of already marked down patio furniture and an extra 5% off on grills. Online purchases can be picked up at a store at no extra charge. Macy's has marked down patio furniture up to 60% and is offering free delivery on online purchases of $999 or more. Select patio furniture is up to 50% off (with an extra 10% off online purchases) and grills are up to $150 off at Sears.